Today is
Friday, Nov. 23, the 328th day of 2012. There are 38 days left in the year.

Highlights in History

• On
Nov. 23, 1942, during World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a
measure establishing the U.S. Women’s Coast Guard Reserve.

• In
1804, the 14th president of the United States, Franklin Pierce, was born in
Hillsboro, N.H.

• In
1887, actor Boris Karloff was born William Henry Pratt in London.

• In
1903, Enrico Caruso made his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New
York.

• In
1936,
Life, the photojournalism magazine created by Henry R. Luce, made its debut.

• In
1943, during World War II, U.S. forces seized control of Tarawa and Makin atolls
from the Japanese.

• In
1971, the People’s Republic of China was seated in the U.N. Security Council.

• In
1996, a commandeered Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 767 crashed into the water off the
Comoros Islands, killing 125 of the 175 people on board, including all three hijackers.

•
Ten years ago: President George W. Bush visited Vilnius, Lithuania; and Bucharest,
Romania, where he vowed to defend hard-won freedoms behind the former Iron Curtain.

•
Five years ago: Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations grudgingly agreed to attend a
U.S.- sponsored Mideast peace conference, despite failing to get any guarantee of Israeli
concessions.

•
One year ago: President Ali Abdullah Saleh of Yemen agreed to step down amid a
fierce uprising to oust him after 33 years in power.

Thought for Today

“I’m a realist, and so I think regretting is a useless occupation. You help no one with it. But
you can’t live without illusions, even if you must fight for them, such as ‘Love conquers all.’ It
isn’t true, but I would like it to be.” — Marlene Dietrich, German-born actress (1901-92)